🎧  -Wonder, Shawn Mendes

"I wonder, wouldn't it be nice

To live inside a world that isn't black and white?"

October 2013

"You just can't say that!"

"I just did."

"Well, you are wrong."

Louis raises his hands in surrender. "Look, all I am saying is that Ross is better off without Rachel. All we got was a series of breakups, patch-ups and rebound sex."

Harry groans, clearly baffled and unamused. "Don't you dare ruin my favourite show, Tomlinson."

"F.R.I.E.N.D.S is overrated."

Louis really doesn't know how their conversation steered away from gay rights to unicorns to monkeys then Harry's so-called favourite show. He isn't freaking out about the fact that he is sitting in a club talking with Harry Styles which is probably the result of four beers in his system. Niall is still missing, probably has already left. Talking with Harry Styles felt like a cool breeze. Calm and always moving.

You know, until now.

"You are wrong, so so wrong." Harry shakes his head in clear disapproval as he takes a sip of his diet cola.

"Said nobody ever." Louis smirks then gestures to the drink in his hand, "You sure you don't want something alcoholic?"

"Naah." Harry shakes his head and winces slightly. "I don't have good experiences with alcohol so I don't drink much."

Louis raises his eyebrows ever so slightly in amusement and nods. He looks around for the first time after he has started talking with Harry. The club looks still the same as it did an hour ago. Except for the fact that people are more intoxicated. Louis included. The DJ is playing some overused song over the dance floor and he can see some people whispering and pointing at Harry. He must get that a lot.

"If you don't mind me asking," Louis turns to Harry, "But since you are famous and all, shouldn't you have some fancy bodyguards or summat?"

Harry shrugs sheepishly and says, "This club is one of my friends'. I come here quite often and you will be surprised to know how many people are too engrossed in themselves to care about what's going around them. Also," He adds hesitatingly, "This is my girlfriend's favourite."

"Ah, nice, nice." Louis nods in understanding. "Your girl is a model, right? What was her name again... It started with a T-"

Harry sighs. "Her name is-"

"No, wait. I remember. What was it? Tasha, Taylor, Tiana...wait...Tessa, right? Tessa Smith?"

Harry presses his lips in a thin line. "Yeah, that's her."

"I have seen some of her photoshoots and she is a proper good model, mate. Very talented."

Harry questions, "You into modelling?"

"Yeah, well-"

Before Louis can complete his sentence, he sees Niall coming over. He turns to an angle and deadpans, "What are you still doing here? Did she reject you?"

Niall looks slightly out of breath. With his hair swooped to the side, a white t-shirt hugging his chest and an exciting expression on his face, he says, "Well, I-uh actually, we are gonna go for a late dinner- Wait, is that you Harry Styles?"

Niall snaps out of his previous excited state and looks toward Harry sitting beside Louis at the bar. "About time you noticed," Louis mutters.

Harry smiles warmly and extends his hand for a handshake which is happily accepted and says, "Yeah, I was for a night out and ran into Louis here."

Niall nods in understanding and Harry continues, "Also, that interview we did was fun. Maybe we should schedule it again sometime." Louis is way beyond impressed with this boy's manners and politeness.

"Of course, mate. How about-"

"Alright, alright," Louis interrupts, "Less business talk, more club talk. Because if I heard you correctly, you said you were gonna go on a date? What happened to a random hook up?"

As Niall goes to answer, Harry takes out his phone and goes through it once just for the sake of it and his awkwardness. Niall says, "Yeah, well. She's uh- quite nice and we decided that we should go for a date."

Louis blinks because woah, Niall is blushing. He smiles and says, "Well, good for you, mate. What are you doing here then? Chop, chop, off you go."

"Yeah, she is in the parking lot waiting for me," Niall says, "I felt bad for ditching you so I thought I might as well come to you and arrange a ride for you somehow."

Louis says, "Don't worry, man. I will figure something out."

"But you are drunk-"

"I am not drunk, just tipsy-"

"Let me-"

"I can drop you home. "

Both friends stop and stare at Harry from whom the suggestion came from. Harry feels uncomfortable under their stare and says, explaining further, "I-I mean, I have a car. I can drop you home. I don't have a problem."

Louis says quietly, "You don't have to..."

"It's fine, really."

Louis shuts up and weighs his options. He can call an uber but that is gonna result in unwanted expense and he is already hard on the money. He thinks about calling Liam and Zayn but they must be on their date and believe it when Louis says they are the worst couple to third wheel with.

Louis sighs and says, "Well, if it's not any inconvenience... Thank you."

Harry nods and smiles. "No problem."

Niall opens and closes his mouth. Then, after some thinking, he thanks Harry and turns to Louis to whisper in his ear, "I don't know what is happening here but be careful, alright? I can see the alcohol has taken its toll on you as you are not freaking out about his dimples-"

Louis glares at Niall and whispers back. "What are you talking about?"

Niall backs away and sighs. He says, straightening out his shirt, "Leave it. I am just gonna go. She must be waiting. Text me when you reach home!"

Harry says as they watch him leave, "Well, he sure is a different one."

Louis chuckles in agreement. Then, he quietens down and says, "Are you sure about the ride thing-"

Harry rolls his eyes and stands up with his keys out. "Yes, I am sure. Now, shall we go?"

Louis smiles and stands up. They make their way towards the exit, preventing stumbling into drunk or/and drugged sweaty people. As they make their way through the parking lot, Harry feels someone tap his shoulder and both of them turn around to see a girl, probably of eighteen- nineteen, with red auburn hair, blue eyes and a nervous smile. She speaks in a shaky voice, "Mr S-Styles, I hope I am not disturbing you-"

Harry smiles and moves closer to her. "Harry is fine, love. Of course, you are not disturbing me. You are alright, yeah?"

The girl takes a deep breath to compose herself and pushes her hair flakes back. "Right, right. Sorry. I am just a really big fan for you and I love you so much and can I just hug you?"

Harry chuckles and engulfs her in a hug and rubs her back. "I love you, too. Thank you for all your support. I wouldn't be here without you."

The girl gives out an airy laugh and says, "Oh God, I am gonna cry." She breaks away from the hug because, well, Harry is not gonna be the one to end it first. She takes her phone out and says, "Can I take a picture with you?"

Harry nods. "Sure, love." Louis steps up and the girl looks at him for the first time in the whole conversation. He says, "Here, why don't I click a photo of you both?"

She nods excitedly and hands him the phone. "Thank you, really." Louis nods in acknowledgement and clicks a photo of them.

He steps back and watches the girl talking with Harry. Louis' heart melts a bit at the sight. He is glad that he is a fan of Harry. A person so nice and so genuine treating his fans as his friends. He doesn't really get what the haters drone on and on about.

"Get home safe!" Harry exclaims at the retreating figure of the girl who waves back. Harry looks at Louis and says, "Sorry for the delay."

Louis shakes his head and says, "It's all good. It's amazing how you treat your fans."

"They are lovely, aren't they?" He says and moves to open the car door. Louis sits on the shotgun and instantly feels appreciation for the nice car which further reminds him how he needs to have his car repaired.

"So, you and Mr Horan have been friends since school?" Harry asks as he looks at his right on the entrance to the highway after asking Louis his address.

"Uh-huh. I have known Niall way before he was Mr Horan and was always stuttering to talk to girls."

Harry chuckles lightly. Louis smiles and continues, "You don't even know. The prom week was always very amusing."

"Well, I hope he has a good date."

"He will, I think. He is a pure charmer under all the nervousness."

Harry eyes him sideways and smirks slightly. "Then, you can have your cool nights alone at bars on Thursdays."

"Oh, yes." Louis nods in mock- seriousness. "They are very cool and don't reek of patheticness at all."

Harry sniggers while shaking his head. "Well, solitude is pleasant instead of pathetic."

Louis rolls his eyes with a smile. "Right. That totally makes it better." He turns his head towards the window. "He grows on you though. Niall. Always cheerful. Has helped me through some hard times."

"That's what friends are for."

"I don't like to admit it but he is a damn good one. Helped me a lot when dad left and when we found that mum has cancer." Fuck. He didn't mean for that to slip. He looks sideways to Harry for any signs of discomfort but all he sees is a concerned glance.

"I am sorry to hear that." Harry frowns. "How is she, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I-uh," Louis hesitates, contemplating whether he should talk about this or not. "Well, it's chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, Stage third. So, it's just about as best as it gets." He tightens his arms around himself. "She went into remission but she had a recurrence about nine months ago. So, she has been in the hospital for five months or so."

Harry frowns and looks at him and away from the road for two seconds. He chews on his lower lip and says quietly, "That's terrible. I hope she'll be fine, eh?"

With a self-conscious brush of hair, he smiles half-heartedly. "Yeah. It is what it is, though." He looks at the other side and rolls the window down a bit. He breathes in the cool night air to let go of the slight awkwardness and glances up at the dark sky. The stars litter the dark sky along with city lights which is a scarce phenomenon since the little twinkling bodies aren't usually visible.

"You mind if I turn on the radio?" Louis asks tearing his eyes away from the beautiful sight towards the green-eyed man who returns a warm smile and says, "Go ahead."

Louis runs his hands over the prestigious dashboard and switches the radio. He fiddles with the knob for a while switching to different songs. He raises his eyebrows on the familiar song and smiles as he settles on that one.

Maybe one day you'll call me and tell me that you're sorry too

But you, you never do

Harry chuckles at the song choice and says, "That is one good choice."

"Of course it is, you narcissist," Louis rolls his eyes and says, "That is one sad song. Lyrically amazingly though. However, I prefer Ever Since New York."

"You listen to my songs?" Harry asks, glancing at Louis, his voice filled with surprise and green eyes slightly widened.

And that is the moment Louis realizes that through out all the times he has talked to Harry, he has never mentioned anything about being a fan of his which suddenly makes him aware of the fact that he is sitting in the car with Harry Styles, a well known pop star and Louis' favourite artist. That definitely knocks out his breath for a couple of seconds.

Instead of being the typical fangirl he is and declaring his appreciation and love for his songs, he decides to play it cool. "What makes you think I wouldn't listen to your songs?"

"Well, frankly, I don't know," Harry replies, a bit baffled and sheepish, "I never entertained the possibility?"

"Yeah, well," Louis says haughtily, partlydue to some new found confidence and partly due to alcohol, "You will be glad to know that I do listen to your songs. Quite a lot actually. Consider me a fan, if you will." Which I totally am but you don't need to know that.

Harry chuckles, taking one arm off the steer wheel and brushing his curls, "Do you remember the lyrics?"

"Oh, Harry, you underestimate me. I remember all the lyrics."

"Well, that's good to know." Harry ridicules him, smiling teasingly.

Louis chuckles and says, half serious-half joking, "You are a good musician, Styles. I recognize talent, when I see it."

The car turns into a wide street and Louis looks through the tinted glasses to see his neighbourhood. He gives Harry the directions and says, "Thanks again for the ride."

"It's alright, as I said. Plus, with all that's going on with you, you must be stressed so I am happy to help with anything."

Louis stops halfway saying something and looks at him in confusion. "What do you mean by 'what's going on with me'?"

Harry glances at him and opens his mouth to say something but closes it looking at the road, looking like he said something he definitely shouldn't have. And that's when it hits Louis that he is referring to the fact that his mother has cancer.

Louis furrows his eyebrows and look away. He holds in a sigh and gulps. Louis feels offended. He isn't some charity case for people to pity. There is nothing going on with him. His mum is sick, yeah. And he is handling it pretty fine himself. He has always handled it on his own since he was sixteen. He doesn't need someone to pity him and help him because of it.

But, of course, Louis doesn't say any of that to Harry.

He just tightens his arms around himself and continues to look outside the window, hoping that he could arrive home soon. The atmosphere of the car is tense even though no words are exchanged. It's like Harry knows how he is feeling cause just a minute later he says, "I-I am sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I mean, I just wanted to help, y'know?"

"It's fine." Louis mutters but still doesn't look at him.

"No, wait." Harry furrows his eyebrows. "I am not explaining this right. I mean,like you told me about how your father wasn't much of a dad..." Okay, now Louis is starting to feel a bit pissed off. Not at Harry but himself. Louis doesn't open up to strangers at all but when he does, he's like an open book. Plus, Niall is right. He can't filter his words with alcohol in his system.

Louis speaks up, "You know what-"

Harry is visibly worried and blurts the first thing that comes to his mind, "My step dad had cancer too. "

Louis silences because he knows.(It's on his Wikipidea page, for God's sake. Of course, Louis has read it.) He died before Harry got on x-factor and became the famous personality he is now. Harry speaks up, "I am not pitying you or anything. I know how it feels when one of your parents is sick and the fear you have that you might not see them the next morning. I have seen my elder sister struggling to get into good college while trying to pay for it and finding jobs while my mum tried to support us," He gulps and rub his palm on his jeans with one on the steering wheel. "I am not saying it just because I wanna pretend that I am this person who understands the pain of everyone. I am saying it because I do understand. I really do. Maybe he wasn't my real father but he sure as well was the best dad ever. And...believe it or not, I know accepting help seems like absolute torture or humiliation but once you have accepted it, it's not bad. It doesn't mean you aren't strong enough to do this on your own. It just means you don't have to do it on your own and if you break sometimes, well, that's fine too because you don't have to be alone picking yourself up." Harry breathes after finishing his monologue. He glances at Louis nervously, hoping that he hasn't crossed a line. So much for being good at interaction with people.

That's when it hits Louis that both of them had been afraid too much that evening but when they did, it couldn't have been any more better.

Louis tries to hide his smile that is fighting to cover his entire face but he fails. Harry relaxes a little, taking that as a good sign. Louis doesn't know what to say, overwhelmed by his appreciation for Harry. He clears his throat and says,"That was really...really...nice. Thank you."

"You aren't mad anymore,right?" He looks at Louis with hopeful and apologizing eyes. "I swear I didn't mean to-"

Louis chuckles. "No. No,I am not."

Harry smiles. "Okay."

Louis smiles back. "Okay."

And maybe it is the night air or the alcohol in his system or the fact that his favorite singer is also such a good person but whatever it is, for this fleeting moment as Louis looks at Harry he finds him beautiful. Harry Styles is way too handsome. Cheeky. Witty. But as he stares at Harry, right now, in this moment, he looks at this amazing kind beautiful boy with green eyes, dimples, curls and the ability to wear his heart on his sleeve.

Before Louis knows they have reached his building and the car has stopped. He says, "Well, this is my stop, I guess. I am gonna go. Thank you once again."

And just as he is about to open the car door, Harry stops him. He takes out a paper and scribbles on it and hands it to Louis. He looks slightly awkward and speaks,"I mean... As I said I wanna help. So..." He clears his throat. "Here is my.. Uh... My number. You know just in case you need something or anyone."

Louis blinks. Looks at the paper. Looks at Harry. Blinks again. Did Harry Styles...just... just gave him his number? He looks at the paper as if it's going to get snatched away and being told that it's a joke. But Harry just looks at him with a nervous smile.

Louis takes the paper with clammy hands and smiles. He looks up at with Harry with a mischievous look. "How do you know I won't leak it?"

Harry looks horrified for a moment but then chuckles as he sees the joking look on his face. "Well, then. Either you are gonna get in trouble with my management with me or to prevent all that I can actually not give it to you... "

Louis laughs and says,"No. It's safe with me. I mean, come on. I have Harry Styles' number. Why would I like to leak such a precious possession to thousands of people?"

Harry chuckles. "Fair enough. "

"But seriously..." Louis says with sincerity, "this means a lot. Thank you." The chances that Louis will actually reach out to Harry for help are really slim (like Niall getting a tattoo-slim, so you get the gist) but hey, it's the thought that counts, right?

"What are friends for?"

And if Louis thought he couldn't smile wider, he finds out he was wrong. A full goofy grin covers his face. Harry just said he is Louis' friend. This amazingly beautiful and famous person wants to be friend with him who is just...Louis. Who doesn't have anything special. Louis doesn't believe it but he chooses to ignore what might be the truth and focus on the present.

That's why when Louis leaves the car after bidding goodbye to Harry, he clutches the paper a bit tighter, his smile is a little wider and his heart is beating a bit faster.